The scenario may be familiar to you: when it’s time to go to bed, your thoughts are racing, your worries resurface, and your mind refuses to calm down. As a result, falling asleep becomes a struggle at a time when you simply want to let go. To find a more peaceful sleep, a mental trick could however be enough.
A very simple calculation to “saturate” the brain
On Instagram, Michael Cohen, aka dr.michaelpharmacien, shares a method that he borrows from mentalist Fabien Olicard. The idea: occupy the brain just enough to prevent it from ruminating.
He explains: “If you don’t sleep, it’s because your brain remains in hypervigilance. The phonological loop, that little inner voice that rehashes your worries, runs continuously and keeps you awake.”
To break this loop, the technique is disconcertingly simple, you just have to count in your head:
- Lie down, visualize a number between 300 and 500;
- Subtract 3 at each step, continuously;
- Example: 342, 339, 336, 333… The objective is not performance. If you mess up, you just keep going down.
Why it really works
Unlike the simple act of “counting sheep”, this technique is based on a precise notion: cognitive load.
According to the pharmacist “When you count sheep, your brain gets bored and anxiety returns. Conversely, complex calculations generate stress and cortisol. Subtracting 3 is ideal: light, but enough to saturate the mental load to 100%.”
In other words, you create a cognitive distraction that is engaging enough to prevent anxious thoughts from returning, which naturally makes it easier to let go and fall asleep.
A technique close to the “cognitive shuffle”
Ultimately, Michael Cohen’s method follows the same logic as the cognitive shuffle, another technique for falling asleep already widely adopted by some and which we were already talking about.
This process generally consists of choosing a letter, listing random words starting with that letter (e.g.: bee, alphabet, apricot), visualize each of them, then move on to the next letter.
The more random the words, the more effective the technique. Here again, the goal is to divert the brain’s attention and disorganize anxious thoughts to gently shift into “off” mode.
A risk-free method, easy to test
Of course, not everyone is equal when it comes to falling asleep. Some temperaments have a harder time letting go than others. But these techniques have a major advantage: they require no medication, no equipment, no special conditions. And since they have no side effects… there’s nothing stopping you from trying them this evening.